Generating queries based upon data points in a spreadsheet application

ABSTRACT

Concepts and technologies are described herein for generating queries for data points in a spreadsheet application. In accordance with the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, a computer system can execute a visualization component. The computer system can obtain spreadsheet data having records that include values, temporal information, location information, and other information. The spreadsheet data can be presented in a visualization, and the computer system can detect selection of a representation of a record in the visualization. The computer system can generate a query based upon record, submit the query to a search engine, and obtain results for presentation.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/681,851 entitled “3D Visualization of Data in Geographical and Temporal Contexts,” filed Aug. 10, 2012, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

A spreadsheet application, reporting application, or other data presentation application may support presentation of data in two-dimensional and/or three-dimensional pie charts, graphs, bar charts, or the like. Thus, users may be able to generate charts, graphs, or other visual representations of some data to gain insight into the data, relationships among data points, trends, or the like. Some data, however, may include various data components that may not be readily susceptible to graphing or charting and therefore may not be appreciated and/or viewable by users.

In particular, some data may include geographical components and/or temporal components. Charts and graphs in spreadsheet applications may present geographical information, but such presentations may be limited to a color code or data label that may not impart meaning to the geographical information. Similarly, temporal data may be displayed in a spreadsheet application by way of showing a trend line, bar graphs, or the like, which may or may not be adequate for a user to discover the relationships of the data in the geographical and temporal contexts.

Also, visual representations of spreadsheet data in charts and/or graphs may provide little information about the data other than specific values selected for the charts and/or graphs. For example, a crime statistic showing a sudden drop in crime at a particular time or location may not provide any information relating to how or why such a drop in crime occurred. Thus, charts and graphs, while providing visually appealing representations of data, may or may not provide information that would be useful for viewers of the charts or graphs.

It is with respect to these and other considerations that the disclosure made herein is presented.

SUMMARY

Concepts and technologies are described herein for generating queries for data points in a spreadsheet application. In accordance with the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, a computer system can execute a visualization component. The visualization component can be included in a spreadsheet application and/or can be configured to present visualizations of spreadsheet data. As used herein, a “visualization” can include an animated rendering of spreadsheet data in a format that can represent time and/or geographical location. The spreadsheet data can include a number of data points, records, and/or other instances of data (“records”) that can be shown or represented in the visualization.

According to various embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, the representations of the records can be selectable by a user or other entity to generate a query relating to the record. Thus, for example, a record relating to a particular time, location, and data value can be selectable to generate a query relating to the time, location, data value and/or other information included in the spreadsheet data. In some embodiments, the generated query can be presented to a user or other entity and the user or other entity can modify the query prior to submission to the search engine. Results for the query can be presented to a user, thereby allowing a user to obtain additional information associated with the representation without closing or exiting the visualization of the spreadsheet data.

According to one aspect, the visualization component detects selection of a data point or representation of the data point in a visualization. The visualization component can generate a query by extracting, from the spreadsheet data corresponding to the data point (or record represented by the data point), temporal information, location information, other information, or the like. The visualization component can be configured to assemble this information into a query. In some embodiments, the query can be generated by joining the various extracted information using query operators and/or other punctuation and/or text. The generated query can be submitted to a search engine, and results obtained from the search engine can be presented to a user in a user interface, which also can be generated by the visualization component.

According to another aspect, the visualization component can be configured to present the query to user before execution or submission. The query can be presented in a user interface that allows a user to edit the query. Thus, a query can add or remove search terms, operators, punctuation, or the like to or from the query. The modified query can be submitted, and the results can be presented. Thus, the query can be generated based upon the spreadsheet data and/or supplemented by a user based other data and/or information.

It should be appreciated that the above-described subject matter may be implemented as a computer-controlled apparatus, a computer process, a computing system, or as an article of manufacture such as a computer-readable storage medium. These and various other features will be apparent from a reading of the following Detailed Description and a review of the associated drawings.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended that this Summary be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Furthermore, the claimed subject matter is not limited to implementations that solve any or all disadvantages noted in any part of this disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a system diagram illustrating an illustrative operating environment for the various embodiments disclosed herein.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating additional aspects of the visualization component, according to an illustrative embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram showing aspects of a method for generating and submitting a query in a spreadsheet application, according to an illustrative embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram showing aspects of a method for generating a query based upon a selected data point in a spreadsheet application, according to an illustrative embodiment.

FIGS. 5A-5E are UI diagrams illustrating additional aspects of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein for generating queries for data points in a spreadsheet application, according to some illustrative embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a computer architecture diagram illustrating an illustrative computer hardware and software architecture for a computing system capable of implementing aspects of the embodiments presented herein.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a distributed computing environment capable of implementing aspects of the embodiments presented herein.

FIG. 8 is a computer architecture diagram illustrating a computing device architecture capable of implementing aspects of the embodiments presented herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description is directed to concepts and technologies for generating queries for data points in a spreadsheet application. According to the concepts and technologies described herein, a computer system executes a visualization component. The visualization component can be configured to present visualizations of spreadsheet data in a format that represent temporal and geographic location information. The visualization can include representations of records included in the spreadsheet data.

According to various embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, the representations of the records can be selectable to cause the visualization component to generate a query relating to the record. In some embodiments, the generated query can be presented to a user or other entity and the user or other entity can modify the query prior to submission to the search engine. Results for the query can be presented to a user, thereby allowing a user to obtain additional information associated with the representation without closing or exiting the visualization of the spreadsheet data.

While the subject matter described herein is presented in the general context of program modules that execute in conjunction with the execution of an operating system and application programs on a computer system, those skilled in the art will recognize that other implementations may be performed in combination with other types of program modules. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, data structures, and other types of structures that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the subject matter described herein may be practiced with other computer system configurations, including hand-held devices, multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, and the like.

In the following detailed description, references are made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments or examples. Referring now to the drawings, in which like numerals represent like elements throughout the several figures, aspects of a computing system, computer-readable storage medium, and computer-implemented methodology for generating queries for data points in a spreadsheet application will be presented.

Referring now to FIG. 1, aspects of one operating environment 100 for the various embodiments presented herein will be described. The operating environment 100 shown in FIG. 1 includes a computer system 102 operating as a part of and/or in communication with a communications network (“network”) 104. According to various implementations of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, the functionality of the computer system 102 can be provided by a cloud-based computing platform that can be provided by one or more application servers, Web servers, data storage systems, network appliances, dedicated hardware devices, and/or other server computers or computing devices.

According to some other embodiments, the computer system 102 can include a user computing device, such as a tablet computing device, a personal computer (“PC”), a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a cellular phone or smartphone, other mobile computing devices, a personal digital assistant (“PDA”), or the like. Some example architectures of the computer system 102 are illustrated and described below with reference to FIGS. 6-8. For purposes of illustrating and describing the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, the functionality of the computer system 102 is described herein as being provided by a server computer. In light of the above alternative embodiments of the computer system 102 described above, it should be understood that this example is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

The computer system 102 can be configured to execute an operating system 106 and one or more application programs such as, for example, a spreadsheet application 108, a visualization component 110, and/or other application programs. The operating system 106 is a computer program for controlling the operation of the computer system 102. The application programs are executable programs configured to execute on top of the operating system 106 to provide the functionality described herein for generating queries for data points in a spreadsheet application.

In particular, the spreadsheet application 108 can be configured to create, manipulate, store, and/or otherwise interact with tabular or other structured data such as spreadsheets. According to some embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, the functionality of the spreadsheet application 108 can be provided by a member of the MICROSOFT EXCEL family of spreadsheet applications from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash. In some other embodiments, the functionality of the spreadsheet application 108 can be provided by a database application, a data reporting application, a data presentation application, combinations thereof, or the like.

According to some implementations, the spreadsheet application 108 can be executed by one or more server computers in the computer system 102, such as application servers and/or Web servers. Thus, the functionality of the spreadsheet application 108 can be accessed by other computing devices and/or accessed at the computer system 102. In the illustrated embodiment, the functionality of the spreadsheet application 108 can be accessed and/or interacted with by a user computing device 112. The functionality of the user computing device 112 can be provided by, for example, a tablet computing device, a smartphone, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, other computing devices, combinations thereof, or the like. The user computing device 112 can communicate with the computer system 102 over one or more links or networks such as, for example, the network 104, a private network, a direct wireless or wired connection, the Internet, and/or combinations of these and other networks and/or communication links.

Although not visible in FIG. 1, the user computing device 112 can execute one or more client applications. The client applications can include Web browser applications and/or other applications for accessing the spreadsheet application 108 executing on the computer system 102. In some embodiments, the spreadsheet application 108 can be executed locally on the user computing device 112 or other devices that can include the functionality of the computer system 102 described herein. The spreadsheet application 108 can be implemented as hardware, software, and/or a combination of the two. Furthermore, the spreadsheet application 108 can include one or more application program modules and other components on the user computing device 112, the computer system 102, and/or other computing platforms. As will be explained in more detail herein, the computer system 102 and/or the user computing device 112 can generate and/or present one or more user interfaces (“UIs”) 114. The UIs 114 can be provided to the user computing device 112 for presentation to a user 116.

According to various embodiments, the spreadsheet application 108 can be configured to generate, manipulate, and/or store tabular or other structured data that can be included in spreadsheet data 118. The spreadsheet data 118 also can be stored in tables of a database, objects stored in an object store, or the like. Because the functionality of the spreadsheet application 108 is generally understood, the spreadsheet application 108 will not be described in additional detail herein.

According to various implementations, the spreadsheet data 118 can be obtained by the computer system 102 from a local or remote data source 120. In some embodiments, the data source 120 can include a memory, disk drive, or other data storage element of or associated with the computer system 102. In some other embodiments such as the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1, the data source 120 can include a network drive, a server computer operating as a part of and/or in communication with the network 104, a database or other real or virtual data storage elements, and/or other data storage devices. As such, it should be understood that the data source 120 can include almost any type of data storage device that is local to and/or remote from the computer system 102.

The visualization component 110 can be configured to obtain the spreadsheet data 118 from the spreadsheet application 108 and/or directly from the data source 120, and to generate, based upon the spreadsheet data 118, three dimensional visualizations of the spreadsheet data 118 in a geographical and/or temporal context. In some embodiments, the visualization component 110 can be implemented as a component of the spreadsheet application 108, and in some embodiments, the visualization component 110 can be implemented as a component separate from the spreadsheet application. Thus, while the spreadsheet application 108 and the visualization component 110 are illustrated as components of the computer system 102, it should be understood that each of these components, or combinations thereof, may be embodied as or in stand-alone devices or components thereof operating on or in communication with the network 104 and/or the computer system 102. Thus, the illustrated embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

In some embodiments, the visualization component 110 may be implemented as a plugin or add-in for the spreadsheet application 108. In some other embodiments, the visualization component 110 can include a service and/or set of application programming interfaces (“APIs”) that can provide the functionality described herein. Thus, it should be appreciated that the visualization component 110 can be implemented as hardware, software, or a combination thereof.

According to various embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, the visualization component 110 can be configured to access one or more geocoding services 122. The geocoding services 122 can be configured to map geographical data included in the spreadsheet data 118 to geographic information. Thus, for example, the visualization component 110 can provide geographical data included in the spreadsheet data 118 such as, for example, a street address, a city, a state, a ZIP code, or the like, to the geocoding services 122. The geocoding services 122 can map this geographical data to latitude and longitude information and/or other geocoded location data. Thus, it can be appreciated that the geocoding services 122 can be called by the computer system 102 via one or more APIs exposed by the geocoding services 122, though this is not necessarily the case. Furthermore, the geocoding services 122 can be configured to provide geographic mapping data 124 representing mappings of the geographical data to the geocoded location data to the computer system 102, though this is not necessarily the case.

In some embodiments, the visualization component 110 can access the geocoding services 122 via one or more networks such as, for example, the network 104, the Internet, other networks, and/or a combination thereof. In some other embodiments, the geocoding services 122 can be implemented on the computer system 102. In one contemplated embodiment, the geocoding services 122 are implemented as a component of the visualization component 110. It should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

The visualization component 110 also can be configured to obtain and/or access map data 126. The map data 126 can be used to provide geolocation and/or graphical data for the creation of the three-dimensional geographical maps as described herein. The visualization component 110 may be configured to obtain or access the map data 126 from or at a computing device such as, for example, a map server 128. In some embodiments, the functionality of the map server 128 can be provided by a mapping application executed by a search engine such as the BING search engine from Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, Wash. Because the functionality of the map server 128 can be provided by additional and/or other devices and/or applications, it should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

The computer system 102 can access the map server 128 via one or more networks such as, for example, the network 104. In some embodiments, the visualization component 110 can be configured to access map tiles from the map data 126, and to stitch the map tiles together over a three-dimensional globe armature to create a three-dimensional geographic globe. The visualization component 110 can be configured to use geocoded location data such as latitude and longitude data from the geocoding services 122 to place visualizations of data included in the spreadsheet data 118 on the three-dimensional geographic globe. As such, various embodiments of the visualization component 110 can be configured to generate displays of geographic data.

The user 116 may interact with the spreadsheet application 108 and the visualization component 110 to create and/or navigate a three-dimensional visualization of the spreadsheet data 118 through a display of the user computing device 112. In some embodiments, the user 116 may use one or more input devices of the user computing device 112 such as a touchscreen, a keyboard, a mouse, a game controller, combinations thereof, or the like. The UIs 114 can be presented on the touchscreen, a monitor, a display, other display surfaces or devices, combinations thereof, or the like.

As used herein, a “visualization” can include an animation scene or tour of multiple scenes that represent the spreadsheet data 118 on a globe, map, or other representation of location. The spreadsheet data 118 can be displayed on the globe, map, or the like at points corresponding to geographic location data included in the spreadsheet data 118. The visualization also can show data changes over time.

As shown in FIG. 1, the operating environment 100 also can include a search engine 130. The search engine 130 can be configured to receive one or more queries 132, and to execute the queries 132 against data stored at and/or associated with the search engine 130 to identify one or more results 134. The search engine 130 can respond to the queries 132 with the results 134, as will be explained in more detail herein. Because the functionality of search engines 130 is generally understood, the functionality of the search engine 130 is not described in additional detail herein.

The visualization component 110 also can be executed by the computer system 102 to provide the functionality described herein for generating queries for data points in a spreadsheet application. In particular, the visualization component 110 can be configured to obtain the spreadsheet data 118 from the data source 120, and to generate a visualization of the spreadsheet data 118. As explained above, the visualization can include a three-dimensional representation of the spreadsheet data 118 on a globe, map, or other surface, and can include representations of the spreadsheet data 118 with respect to geographic and/or temporal contexts. According to various embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, the visualization can include multiple representations of data values included in the spreadsheet data 118 such as, for example, columns, bars, data points, or the like.

According to various implementations of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, the visualization component 110 can detect selection of a data point, column, bar, or other representation (hereinafter referred to as a “data point” for simplicity) of a data value in the visualization. For example, the visualization component 110 can determine that a user or other entity has selected a data point via tapping, clicking, or otherwise interacting the UI 114 that presents the visualization. The visualization component 110 can be configured to identify a data point, record, or other instance of data included in the spreadsheet data 118 that corresponds to the selected data point.

The visualization component 110 can access the record or other instance of data associated with the selected data point, and extract or otherwise identify various information from the instance of data. According to some embodiments, the visualization component 110 is configured to extract at least time information and location information from the instance of data. The time information can include a time stamp, time value, time entry, and/or other indication of time that is included in the instance of data. The location information can include almost any type of location information including, but not limited to, a ZIP code, a city name, a street address, a set of coordinates such as global positioning system (“GPS”) coordinates, a parcel identifier, a county name, a neighborhood name, an area name, a region name, a state name, a country name, a continent name, a hemisphere name, other location information, combinations thereof, or the like.

In some other embodiments, the visualization component 110 can be configured to extract time information, location information, and other information such as metadata, unit identifiers, author names, title information, values, and/or almost any other type of information that may be included in the spreadsheet data 118. The visualization component 110 can be configured to collect these information and add text or terms corresponding to this information to a query 132.

In some embodiments, the visualization component can add text, operators, and/or other query language to the query 132 to make the terms or other text meaningful to a device to which the query 132 is to be sent or against which the query 132 is to be executed. Thus, for example, the visualization component 110 can add, for example, “AND,” “OR,” “UNION,” “JOIN,” “AND NOT,” and/or various other punctuation and/or text to the query 132, depending upon a language and/or other aspect of the query 132 to be generated. In some other embodiments, the visualization component 110 can generate the query 132 using natural language technology and therefore can be configured to generate text for the query 132 using natural language technologies.

The generated query 132 can be presented to a user or other entity. For example, the visualization component 110 can be configured to generate a UI 114 and/or send information to various devices or software to generate the UI 114 for presenting the query 132. In some embodiments, the UI 114 can allow a user or other entity to edit the query 132 to add or remove terms, to add or remove various query operators, and/or to otherwise modify the query 132 prior to submission and/or execution. If the visualization component 110 determines that the query 132 has been modified, the visualization component 110 can modify the query 132 and/or generate a new query 132.

The visualization component 110 can submit query 132 (or modified query 132) to the search engine 130 and/or can execute the query 132 against data hosted by the search engine 130 such as a search index (not illustrated). The visualization component 110 can receive results 134 from the search engine 130, and generate a UI 114 for presenting the results 134 at the user computing device 112. These and other aspects of generating queries based upon data points in spreadsheet data 118 will be illustrated and described in additional detail below, particularly with reference to FIGS. 3-5E.

FIG. 1 illustrates one computer system 102, one network 104, one user computing device 112, one data source 120, one instance of geocoding services 122, one map server 128, and one search engine 130. It should be understood, however, that some implementations of the operating environment 100 can include multiple computer systems 102, multiple networks 104, multiple user computing devices 112, multiple data sources 120, multiple instances of the geocoding services 122, multiple map servers 128, and/or multiple search engines 130. As such, the illustrated embodiment of the operating environment should be understood as being illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

Turning now to FIG. 2, additional aspects of the visualization component 110 will be presented, according to one illustrative embodiment. In particular, FIG. 2 provides further details regarding architecture and subcomponents of the visualization component 110, according to some embodiments. The visualization component 110 can include a number of components and/or subsystems including, but not limited to, a visualization control 200, a visualization engine 202, a spreadsheet plugin core 204, and/or other components and/or subsystems.

The visualization control 200 can include functionality for representing data, performing searches and/or providing search services, a glob control for visualizing and/or presenting representations of the globe, video recording functionality for recording animations and/or videos of illustrated tours, and a client. The visualization engine 202 can include functionality for generating a tour including multiple scenes, images, and/or animation sequences; functionality for measuring and/or representing time in the visualization space; an engine core for providing the visualization component functionality described herein; annotations functionality for generating and/or rendering two dimensional and/or three-dimensional annotations; spatial indexing functionality; and camera functionality. The visualization engine 202 also can include globe models and/or functionality for representing the globe; input and touch modules for interpreting touch and/or multi-touch commands as input; visual layers functionality for representing and/or interacting with layers of a visualization space; a tile cache for storing map tiles; a three-dimensional graphics module for generating and/or rendering three-dimensional visualizations; and shaders for providing shading of generated and/or rendered three-dimensional objects.

In some embodiments, the shaders can include or implement a number of algorithms to facilitate the rendering of the three-dimensional geographical visualizations of data described herein. For example, the visualization component 110 can implement a dark aura effect for disambiguating visualization of a number of similarly colored objects. A dark aura effect can include a visual treatment that allows a viewer, for example the user 116, to differentiate between items in a three-dimensional visualization space. When there are multiple, similarly colored columns in a three-dimensional visualization or view, some of these columns may be next to and/or behind one another in the three-dimensional view. Thus, the multiple columns may appear to be grouped together and/or may look like a single polygon. In some embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, the dark aura effect can be added around one or more of the columns, thereby allowing the one or more columns to appear to stand out from one another. Because other visual effects are possible and are contemplated, it should be understood that this example is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

In another example, the visualization component 110 may implement a GPU-based framework for asynchronous hit testing for large number of arbitrary three-dimensional elements. This may comprise adding “out-of-channel” color information to pixels of the objects rendered in the three-dimensional visualization that may be invisible to the viewer, but can contain information identifying the object. Thus, if a user taps, clicks, or otherwise interacts with a point in the three-dimensional visualization, the identity of the object represented by the selected pixel can be known without deconstructing the three-dimensional visualization and determining the object rendered at the selected location. This may be implemented in the GPU.

The spreadsheet plugin core 204 can include functionality for storing workbook state information, as well as a query engine for generating and/or executing queries against various data sources. In some embodiments, the query engine can be configured to generate a query based upon data stored in the spreadsheet data 118, and to submit the queries to a search engine such as the search engine 130 shown in FIG. 1. It should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

The visualization component 110 also can include various other components and/or subsystems such as, for example, a spreadsheet program native plugin and a spreadsheet program command object model (“COM”) API. The visualization component 110 also can include various graphics plugins and/or APIs such as the illustrated DIRECTX APIs, API call emulators such as the illustrated DIRECTX WRAPPER, a WINDOWS Presentation Foundation (“WPF”) subsystem, combinations thereof, or the like. The visualization component 110 also can include analytics engines such as the illustrated VERTIPAQ engine and/or modules associated with other data providers, if desired. It should be appreciated that the visualization component 110 can include additional and/or alternative functionality not shown in FIG. 2. As such, the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 2 should be understood as being illustrative and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

Turning now to FIG. 3, aspects of a method 300 for generating and submitting a query in a spreadsheet application will be described in detail. It should be understood that the operations of the methods disclosed herein are not necessarily presented in any particular order and that performance of some or all of the operations in an alternative order(s) is possible and is contemplated. The operations have been presented in the demonstrated order for ease of description and illustration. Operations may be added, omitted, and/or performed simultaneously, without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

It also should be understood that the illustrated methods disclosed herein can be ended at any time and need not be performed in their respective (or collective) entireties. Some or all operations of the methods disclosed herein, and/or substantially equivalent operations, can be performed by execution of computer-readable instructions included on a computer-storage media, as defined herein. The term “computer-readable instructions,” and variants thereof, as used in the description and claims, is used expansively herein to include routines, applications, application modules, program modules, programs, components, data structures, algorithms, and the like. Computer-readable instructions can be implemented on various system configurations, including single-processor or multiprocessor systems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, personal computers, hand-held computing devices, microprocessor-based, programmable consumer electronics, combinations thereof, and the like.

Thus, it should be appreciated that the logical operations described herein are implemented (1) as a sequence of computer implemented acts or program modules running on a computing system and/or (2) as interconnected machine logic circuits or circuit modules within the computing system. The implementation is a matter of choice dependent on the performance and other requirements of the computing system. Accordingly, the logical operations described herein are referred to variously as states, operations, structural devices, acts, or modules. These operations, structural devices, acts, and modules may be implemented in software, in firmware, in special purpose digital logic, and any combination thereof.

For purposes of illustrating and describing the concepts of the present disclosure, the methods disclosed herein are described as being performed by the computer system 102 via execution of one or more software modules such as, for example, the visualization component 110. It should be understood that additional and/or alternative devices and/or network nodes can provide the functionality described herein via execution of one or more modules, applications, and/or other software including, but not limited to, the visualization component 110. Thus, the illustrated embodiments are illustrative, and should not be viewed as being limiting in any way.

The method 300 begins at operation 302, wherein the computer system 102 obtains spreadsheet data 118. As explained above, the spreadsheet data 118 can include various types of information or content such as, for example, spreadsheet files, database application data, and/or other types of information. In one contemplated embodiment, the spreadsheet data 118 corresponds to a spreadsheet file such as a file generated by a member of the MICROSOFT EXCEL family of spreadsheet application software products from Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, Wash. The spreadsheet data 118 can be obtained from a data storage device or component associated with the computer system 102. Some examples of data storage devices are described in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 6-8. In some other embodiments, the spreadsheet data 118 can be stored at or hosted by a remote storage device or resource such as the data source 120 described herein. Thus, the spreadsheet data 118 can be obtained by the computer system 102 via communications with the data source 120. As such, it should be understood that the spreadsheet data 118 can be obtained from any real or virtual device via a direct connection, via one or more networks, and/or via other nodes, devices, and/or device components.

Although not illustrated in FIG. 3, the computer system 102 can generate and present a UI 114 that includes the spreadsheet data 118 obtained in operation 302. Similarly, the computer system 102 can generate and output the UI 114 to the user computing device 112, and the user computing device 112 can present the UI 114 at a display associated with user computing device 112. Thus, while the methods described herein are illustrated and described as occurring at the computer system 102, it should be understood that user input can occur via a web browser or other program executing at the user computing device 112 and/or other devices or systems remote from the computer system 102.

From operation 302, the method 300 proceeds to operation 304, wherein the computer system 102 detects selection of a data point. In particular, the computer system 102 can determine that a user or other entity has selected a point on a UI 114 that presents the spreadsheet data 118 obtained in operation 302. As explained above, the input for selecting the point can occur via web browser or other program executing on the user computing device 112 and/or other devices in communication with the computer system 102 instead of, or in addition to, occurring at the computer system 102.

From operation 304, the method 300 proceeds to operation 306, wherein the computer system 102 generates a query 132 based upon the data point selected in operation 304. Additional details for generating the query 132 are illustrated and described in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 4-5E. Briefly, the computer system 102 can extract various data associated with the data point from the spreadsheet data 118. Extracted data can include, for example, temporal information, geographical information, and/or other information. The computer system 102 also can present text corresponding to the query 132 to a user or other entity, and the user or other entity can modify the query 132 prior to execution. If modified by a user or other entity, the computer system 102 can add terms to the query 132.

From operation 306, the method 300 proceeds to operation 308, wherein the computer system 102 submits the query 132 generated in operation 306 to a recipient such as, for example, the search engine 130. In some embodiments, the computer system 102 can execute the query 132 against data stored at the search engine 130 in addition to, or instead of, “submitting” the query 132 to the search engine 130.

From operation 308, the method 300 proceeds to operation 310, wherein the computer system 102 receives results 134 from the search engine 130. It can be appreciated that the results 134 received in operation 310 can include search results from a search regarding the data point selected in operation 304. Thus, in some embodiments, the computer system 102 can receive a results page and/or other data corresponding to the results 134 in operation 310. Because the results 134 can be received in additional and/or alternative ways, it should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

From operation 310, the method 300 proceeds to operation 312, wherein the computer system 102 presents the results 134. In some embodiments, the computer system 102 can output the results 134 to a display associated with the computer system 102. In some other embodiments, the computer system 102 can output the results 134 and/or graphical data representing the results 134 to another device such as the user computing device 112, and the other device can present the results 134. An example user interface for presenting the results 134 is illustrated and described in more detail below with reference to FIG. 5E. Because the results 134 can be received and/or presented in additional and/or alternative ways, it should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. From operation 312, the method 300 proceeds to operation 314. The method 300 ends at operation 314.

Turning now to FIG. 4, aspects of a method 400 for generating a query based upon a selected data point in a spreadsheet application will be described in detail. As mentioned above, the functionality described herein with respect to the method 400 can be performed by the computer system 102 in operation 306 of the method 300 shown in FIG. 3, though this is not necessarily the case.

The method 400 begins at operation 402, wherein the computer system 102 extracts temporal information from the spreadsheet data 118. In particular, the computer system 102 can identify a data point or record in the spreadsheet data 118 that corresponds to the data point selected in operation 304 of the method 300. The computer system 102 can identify and extract time information from the record or data point. Thus, for example, the computer system 102 can extract a time stamp, time range, time value, or other temporal information associated with the data point in operation 402.

From operation 402, the method 400 proceeds to operation 404, wherein the computer system 102 extracts location information. As explained above with respect to the time information, the computer system 102 can be configured to identify a data point, record, or other instance of data corresponding to the data point selected in operation 304 of the method 300, and extract location information from that data point, record, or other instance of data. The location information extracted in operation 404 can correspond, in various embodiments, to latitude and longitude coordinates, to GPS coordinates, to a street address, to a neighborhood or area, to a ZIP code, to a city, to a county, to a state, to a country, to a continent, and/or to other location information of varying levels of granularity. Thus, it can be appreciated that the location information extracted in operation 404 can be specific to an area having an area of one to two square feet, or may relate generally to a large geographic area encompassing hundreds or even thousands of acres.

From operation 404, the method 400 proceeds to operation 406, wherein the computer system 102 extracts other information. In particular, the computer system 102 can be configured to extract various types of data from the data point, record, or other instance of data that corresponds to the data point selected in operation 304 of the method 300, as noted above. According to various embodiments, the other information extracted in operation 406 can include, but is not limited to, any other data associated with the data point, record, or other instance of the data that corresponds to the data point. The other data also can correspond to the spreadsheet data 118 in general. As such, the other data extracted in operation 406 can include, but is not limited to, metadata, measurement units, author information, creation dates, modification dates, data types, other types of information, combinations thereof, or the like.

From operation 406, the method 400 proceeds to operation 408, wherein the computer system 102 generates the query 132. In particular, the computer system 102 can assemble the query 132 based, at least partially, upon the various information extracted in operations 402-406. In one contemplated embodiment, the computer system 102 can be configured to concatenate the information extracted in operations 402-406 using various operators and/or punctuation such as, for example, “AND,” “OR,” “AND NOT,” parentheses, quotation marks, combinations thereof, or the like. Because the computer system 102 can assemble and/or generate the query 132 in additional and/or alternative ways, it should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

From operation 408, the method 400 proceeds to operation 410, wherein the computer system 102 presents the query 132. In particular, the computer system 102 can present the query 132 generated in operation 408 at a display device associated with the computer system 102. In some embodiments, the computer system 102 can generate and/or output graphics data that, when rendered by another device such as the user computing device 112, displays the query 132. Thus, it should be understood that the computer system 102 can display the query 132 and/or output the query 132 to other systems and/or devices for display elsewhere. According to one contemplated embodiment, the computer system 102 loads the query 132 to a webpage that can be viewed via program such as a web browser executing at the user computing device 112. An example user interface for presenting the query 132 is illustrated and described below with reference to FIG. 5C. Because the query 132 can be presented in additional and/or alternative ways, it should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

From operation 410, the method 400 proceeds to operation 412, wherein the computer system 102 determines if the query 132 has been modified. In particular, the computer system 102 can be configured to present the query 132, or instruct other devices to present the query 132, in a user interface that supports editing and/or other modifications to the query 132. Thus, the computer system 102 can determine, in operation 412, whether or not a user or other entity has modified the query 132 presented in operation 410 by adding query terms and/or removing query terms from the query 132. An example user interface for obtaining an edit or modification of the query 132 is illustrated and described below with reference to FIG. 5D.

If the computer system 102 determines, in operation 412, that the query 132 presented in operation 410 has been modified, the method 400 proceeds to operation 414. In operation 414, the computer system 102 generates a modified version of the query 132. In particular, the computer system 102 can generate a new query 132 that includes or omits the terms added or removed in operation 412 from the query presented in operation 410. Thus, operation 414 can include the computer system 102 modifying the query 132 generated in operation 408 or generating a new query 132 as mentioned above.

From operation 414, the method 400 proceeds to operation 416. The method 400 also can proceed to operation 416 from operation 412, if the computer system 102 determines that the query 132 has not been modified. The computer system 102 can output the query 132 or the modified query 132, and execution of the method 300 can resume at operation 308. Thus, the method 400 ends at operation 416.

Turning now to FIGS. 5A-5E, UI diagrams showing various aspects of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein for generating queries for data points in a spreadsheet application will be described according to various illustrative embodiments. FIG. 5A shows an illustrative screen display 500A generated by a device such as the computer system 102 and/or the user computing device 112. In some embodiments, the screen display 500A can correspond to the UI 114 displayed by the user computing device 112, as shown in FIG. 1, though this is not necessarily the case. It should be appreciated that the UI diagram illustrated in FIG. 5A is illustrative of one contemplated example, and therefore should not be construed as being limited in any way.

As shown in FIG. 5A, the screen display 500A can include a three-dimensional visualization of data such as the spreadsheet data 118 described herein. More particularly, the screen display 500A is illustrated a map with multiple data points 502 illustrated on the map in locations corresponding to a geographic location included in the spreadsheet data 118. Because the spreadsheet data 118 can be represented in the screen display 500A via representations other than the illustrated data points 502, it should be understood that the example screen display 500A shown in FIG. 5A is illustrative.

According to various embodiments, the data points 502 shown in FIG. 5A can also be UI controls that, when selected by a user, cause a device such as the computer system 102 and/or the user computing device 112 to present a menu for presenting information about the data points 502 and/or generating a query 132 to obtain additional information about the data point 502. As shown in FIG. 5A, the screen display 500A can include a data point information menu 504. The data point information menu 504 can be displayed, for example, in response to detecting a user interaction with one or more of the data points 502, as depicted in FIG. 5A by way of a user's hand tapping or otherwise selecting one of the data points 502. Because the data point information menu 504 can be displayed at additional and/or alternative times, it should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

The data point information menu 504 can include information associated with the selected data point 502. In the example illustrated in FIG. 5A, the data point information menu 504 includes location information 506, temporal information 508, a data value 510, other information 512, an option 514 to obtain additional information about the data point 502, and an option 516 to close the data point information menu 504. Because additional and/or alternative information can be included in the data point information menu 504, it should be understood that the illustrated example is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

According to various embodiments, selection of the option 514 can cause the computer system 102 and/or the user computing device 112 to generate a query 132 including some, none, or all of the information displayed in the data point information menu 504, and to submit the query 132 to a search engine 130 as described herein. In some embodiments, selection of the option 516 can cause the computer system 102 and/or the user computing device 112 to hide the data point information menu 504. An example of a user selecting the option 514 is illustrated in FIG. 5B.

In particular, FIG. 5B shows a screen display 500B generated by a device such as the computer system 102 and/or the user computing device 112. In some embodiments, the screen display 500B corresponds to one or more of the UIs 114 shown in FIG. 1 and described above with reference to FIGS. 1-5A. It should be appreciated that the UI diagram illustrated in FIG. 5B is illustrative of one contemplated embodiment, and therefore should not be construed as being limited in any way.

In FIG. 5B, a user has selected the option 514 to obtain additional information relating to the data point 502. As is explained herein, the computer system 102 and/or the user computing device 112 can, in response to the selection of the option 514 as shown in FIG. 5B, generate and submit a query 132 to a search engine 130 and/or another device or service. Thus, although not visible in FIG. 5B, the computer system 102 and/or the user computing device 112 can, in response to the selection of the option 514, generate the query 132 as described above with reference to operation 408 in FIG. 4.

Turning now to FIG. 5C, a UI diagram showing additional aspects of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein for generating queries for data points in a spreadsheet application is described in detail. In particular, FIG. 5C shows a screen display 500C generated by a device such as the computer system 102 and/or the user computing device 112. In some embodiments, the screen display 500C corresponds to one or more of the UIs 114 shown in FIG. 1 and described above with reference to FIGS. 1-5B. Furthermore, the screen display 500C can be presented, in some embodiments, in response to detecting selection of the option 514 as illustrated in FIG. 5B. Because the screen display 500C can be shown at additional and/or alternative times, it should be appreciated that this example, as well as the layout and/or contents of the UI diagram illustrated in FIG. 5C are illustrative and should not be construed as being limited in any way.

In FIG. 5C, a query presentation window 520 is displayed. It can be appreciated from the description of FIGS. 3-5B that the query presentation window 520 can be presented in response to detecting a request to obtain additional information relating to the data point 502 selected in operation 304 of the method 300, as well as at other times and/or in response to other actions or commands. As shown in FIG. 5C, the query presentation window 520 can include a field 522 with a text of a query 132 that has been generated. It can be appreciated that the screen display 500C can be used to present the query 132 to a user as described above with reference to operation 410 of the method 400.

Although not visible in FIG. 5C, a user or other entity can tap, click, or enter other input for indicating that the query 132 presented in the query presentation window 520 is to be modified. Thus, a user or other entity can interact with the query presentation window 520 to modify the query as discussed above with reference to operation 412 of the method 400 illustrated in FIG. 4. Because the query 132 presented in the query presentation window 520 can be modified in additional and/or alternative ways, it should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

It can be appreciated from collectively referring to FIGS. 5A-5C, that the query 132 shown in the query presentation window 520 includes some of the information displayed in the data point information menu 504. The query 132 shown in the query presentation window 520 also includes GPS coordinates, which can be determined based upon geographic mapping data 124 and/or other data. Because the query 132 can include additional and/or alternative information obtained from various sources, it should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

The query presentation window 520 also can include a UI control 524 for cancelling the query request and a UI control 526 for submitting the query 132. Selection of the UI control 524 can hide the query presentation window 520. Selection of the UI control 526 can hide the query presentation window 520 and/or display a query results window. Because additional and/or alternative actions can be taken in response to detecting interactions with the UI controls 524, 526, it should be understood that these examples are illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

Turning now to FIG. 5D, a UI diagram showing additional aspects of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein for generating queries for data points in a spreadsheet application is described in detail. In particular, FIG. 5D shows a screen display 500D generated by a device such as the computer system 102 and/or the user computing device 112. In some embodiments, the screen display 500D corresponds to one or more of the UIs 114 shown in FIG. 1 and described above with reference to FIGS. 1-5C. It should be appreciated that the UI diagram illustrated in FIG. 5D is illustrative of one contemplated embodiment, and therefore should not be construed as being limited in any way.

In FIG. 5D, the query presentation window 520 is illustrated as being displayed. In addition to the query presentation window 520, a graphical keyboard 528 is also displayed. The graphical keyboard 528 can be displayed, for example, in response to detecting a tap, click, or other input for modifying the query 132 as described herein. In the illustrated embodiment, a user has modified the text 530 of the query 132 in the field 522 to include the words “and ‘above average.’” Thus, selection of the UI control 526 can cause the computer system 102 and/or the user computing device 112 to replace the query 132 with a new query 132 and/or to modify the query 132 as described herein with reference to operations 412-414 of the method 400. It should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

Turning now to FIG. 5E, a UI diagram showing additional aspects of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein for generating queries for data points in a spreadsheet application is described in detail. In particular, FIG. 5E shows a screen display 500E generated by a device such as the computer system 102 and/or the user computing device 112. In some embodiments, the screen display 500E corresponds to one or more of the UIs 114 shown in FIG. 1 and described above with reference to FIGS. 1-5D. It should be appreciated that the UI diagram illustrated in FIG. 5E is illustrative of one contemplated embodiment, and therefore should not be construed as being limited in any way.

In FIG. 5E, a results window 532 is illustrated as being displayed. The results window 532 is illustrated as displaying several search results obtained in response to submission and/or execution of the query 132 illustrated in FIG. 5D. As shown in FIG. 5E, the results window 532 can include any number of results 134, and as such, the results window 532 can include a scroll bar 534 and/or other functionality for scrolling through results 134. Thus, various embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein allow a user to obtain and view search results via clicking on a data point 502 in a display.

FIG. 6 illustrates an illustrative computer architecture 600 for a device capable of executing the software components described herein for generating queries for data points in a spreadsheet application. Thus, the computer architecture 600 illustrated in FIG. 6 illustrates an architecture for a server computer, mobile phone, a PDA, a smart phone, a desktop computer, a netbook computer, a tablet computer, and/or a laptop computer. The computer architecture 600 may be utilized to execute any aspects of the software components presented herein.

The computer architecture 600 illustrated in FIG. 6 includes a central processing unit 602 (“CPU”), a system memory 604, including a random access memory 606 (“RAM”) and a read-only memory (“ROM”) 608, and a system bus 610 that couples the memory 604 to the CPU 602. A basic input/output system containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within the computer architecture 600, such as during startup, is stored in the ROM 608. The computer architecture 600 further includes a mass storage device 612 for storing the operating system 106 and one or more application programs including, but not limited to, the spreadsheet application 108, the visualization component 110, other application programs, or the like. Although not shown in FIG. 6, the mass storage device 612 also can be configured to store the spreadsheet data 118, the geographic mapping data 124, the map data 126, and/or graphical data corresponding to one or more of the UIs 114 described herein, if desired.

The mass storage device 612 is connected to the CPU 602 through a mass storage controller (not shown) connected to the bus 610. The mass storage device 612 and its associated computer-readable media provide non-volatile storage for the computer architecture 600. Although the description of computer-readable media contained herein refers to a mass storage device, such as a hard disk or CD-ROM drive, it should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that computer-readable media can be any available computer storage media or communication media that can be accessed by the computer architecture 600.

Communication media includes computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics changed or set in a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. Combinations of the any of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

By way of example, and not limitation, computer storage media may include volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. For example, computer media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other solid state memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disks (“DVD”), HD-DVD, BLU-RAY, or other optical storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by the computer architecture 600. For purposes of the claims, the phrase “computer storage medium,” and variations thereof, does not include waves or signals per se and/or communication media.

According to various embodiments, the computer architecture 600 may operate in a networked environment using logical connections to remote computers through a network such as the network 104. The computer architecture 600 may connect to the network 104 through a network interface unit 614 connected to the bus 610. It should be appreciated that the network interface unit 614 also may be utilized to connect to other types of networks and remote computer systems such as, for example, the user computing device 112, the data source 120, the geocoding services 122, the map server 128, the search engine 130, and/or other systems or devices. The computer architecture 600 also may include an input/output controller 616 for receiving and processing input from a number of other devices, including a keyboard, mouse, or electronic stylus (not shown in FIG. 6). Similarly, the input/output controller 616 may provide output to a display screen, a printer, or other type of output device (also not shown in FIG. 6).

It should be appreciated that the software components described herein may, when loaded into the CPU 602 and executed, transform the CPU 602 and the overall computer architecture 600 from a general-purpose computing system into a special-purpose computing system customized to facilitate the functionality presented herein. The CPU 602 may be constructed from any number of transistors or other discrete circuit elements, which may individually or collectively assume any number of states. More specifically, the CPU 602 may operate as a finite-state machine, in response to executable instructions contained within the software modules disclosed herein. These computer-executable instructions may transform the CPU 602 by specifying how the CPU 602 transitions between states, thereby transforming the transistors or other discrete hardware elements constituting the CPU 602.

Encoding the software modules presented herein also may transform the physical structure of the computer-readable media presented herein. The specific transformation of physical structure may depend on various factors, in different implementations of this description. Examples of such factors may include, but are not limited to, the technology used to implement the computer-readable media, whether the computer-readable media is characterized as primary or secondary storage, and the like. For example, if the computer-readable media is implemented as semiconductor-based memory, the software disclosed herein may be encoded on the computer-readable media by transforming the physical state of the semiconductor memory. For example, the software may transform the state of transistors, capacitors, or other discrete circuit elements constituting the semiconductor memory. The software also may transform the physical state of such components in order to store data thereupon.

As another example, the computer-readable media disclosed herein may be implemented using magnetic or optical technology. In such implementations, the software presented herein may transform the physical state of magnetic or optical media, when the software is encoded therein. These transformations may include altering the magnetic characteristics of particular locations within given magnetic media. These transformations also may include altering the physical features or characteristics of particular locations within given optical media, to change the optical characteristics of those locations. Other transformations of physical media are possible without departing from the scope and spirit of the present description, with the foregoing examples provided only to facilitate this discussion.

In light of the above, it should be appreciated that many types of physical transformations take place in the computer architecture 600 in order to store and execute the software components presented herein. It also should be appreciated that the computer architecture 600 may include other types of computing devices, including hand-held computers, embedded computer systems, personal digital assistants, and other types of computing devices known to those skilled in the art. It is also contemplated that the computer architecture 600 may not include all of the components shown in FIG. 6, may include other components that are not explicitly shown in FIG. 6, or may utilize an architecture completely different than that shown in FIG. 6.

FIG. 7 illustrates an illustrative distributed computing environment 700 capable of executing the software components described herein for generating queries for data points in a spreadsheet application. Thus, the distributed computing environment 700 illustrated in FIG. 7 can be used to provide the functionality described herein with respect to the computer system 102. The distributed computing environment 700 thus may be utilized to execute any aspects of the software components presented herein.

According to various implementations, the distributed computing environment 700 includes a computing environment 702 operating on, in communication with, or as part of the network 704. The network 704 also can include various access networks. According to various implementations, the functionality of the network 704 can be provided by the network 104 illustrated in FIG. 1. One or more client devices 706A-706N (hereinafter referred to collectively and/or generically as “clients 706”) can communicate with the computing environment 702 via the network 704 and/or other connections (not illustrated in FIG. 7). In the illustrated embodiment, the clients 706 include a computing device 706A such as a laptop computer, a desktop computer, or other computing device; a slate or tablet computing device (“tablet computing device”) 706B; a mobile computing device 706C such as a mobile telephone, a smart phone, or other mobile computing device; a server computer 706D; and/or other devices 706N. It should be understood that any number of clients 706 can communicate with the computing environment 702. Two example computing architectures for the clients 706 are illustrated and described herein with reference to FIGS. 6 and 8. It should be understood that the illustrated clients 706 and computing architectures illustrated and described herein are illustrative, and should not be construed as being limited in any way.

In the illustrated embodiment, the computing environment 702 includes application servers 708, data storage 710, and one or more network interfaces 712. According to various implementations, the functionality of the application servers 708 can be provided by one or more server computers that are executing as part of, or in communication with, the network 704. The application servers 708 can host various services, virtual machines, portals, and/or other resources. In the illustrated embodiment, the application servers 708 host one or more virtual machines 714 for hosting applications or other functionality. According to various implementations, the virtual machines 714 host one or more applications and/or software modules for providing the functionality described herein for generating queries for data points in a spreadsheet application. It should be understood that this embodiment is illustrative, and should not be construed as being limiting in any way. The application servers 708 also host or provide access to one or more Web portals, link pages, Web sites, and/or other information (“Web portals”) 716.

According to various implementations, the application servers 708 also include one or more mailbox services 718 and one or more messaging services 720. The mailbox services 718 can include electronic mail (“email”) services. The mailbox services 718 also can include various personal information management (“PIM”) services including, but not limited to, calendar services, contact management services, collaboration services, and/or other services. The messaging services 720 can include, but are not limited to, instant messaging services, chat services, forum services, and/or other communication services.

The application servers 708 also can include one or more social networking services 722. The social networking services 722 can include various social networking services including, but not limited to, services for sharing or posting status updates, instant messages, links, photos, videos, and/or other information; services for commenting or displaying interest in articles, products, blogs, or other resources; and/or other services. In some embodiments, the social networking services 722 are provided by or include the FACEBOOK social networking service, the LINKEDIN professional networking service, the MYSPACE social networking service, the FOURSQUARE geographic networking service, the YAMMER office colleague networking service, and the like. In other embodiments, the social networking services 722 are provided by other services, sites, and/or providers that may or may not explicitly be known as social networking providers. For example, some web sites allow users to interact with one another via email, chat services, and/or other means during various activities and/or contexts such as reading published articles, commenting on goods or services, publishing, collaboration, gaming, and the like. Examples of such services include, but are not limited to, the WINDOWS LIVE service and the XBOX LIVE service from Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, Wash. Other services are possible and are contemplated.

The social networking services 722 also can include commenting, blogging, and/or microblogging services. Examples of such services include, but are not limited to, the YELP commenting service, the KUDZU review service, the OFFICETALK enterprise microblogging service, the TWITTER messaging service, the GOOGLE BUZZ service, and/or other services. It should be appreciated that the above lists of services are not exhaustive and that numerous additional and/or alternative social networking services 722 are not mentioned herein for the sake of brevity. As such, the above embodiments are illustrative, and should not be construed as being limited in any way.

As shown in FIG. 7, the application servers 708 also can host other services, applications, portals, and/or other resources (“other resources”) 724. The other resources 724 can include, but are not limited to, the geocoding services 122, the map server 128, the data source 120, the search engine 130 and/or other services and/or resources. It thus can be appreciated that the computing environment 702 can provide integration of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein provided herein for generating queries for data points in a spreadsheet application with various mailbox, messaging, social networking, and/or other services or resources. For example, the concepts and technologies disclosed herein can support sharing visualizations with social network users, mail recipients, message recipients or the like. Similarly, users or other entities can share visualizations and/or spreadsheet data 118 with social networking users, friends, connections, mail recipients, systems or devices, combinations thereof, or the like.

As mentioned above, the computing environment 702 can include the data storage 710. According to various implementations, the functionality of the data storage 710 is provided by one or more databases operating on, or in communication with, the network 704. The functionality of the data storage 710 also can be provided by one or more server computers configured to host data for the computing environment 702. The data storage 710 can include, host, or provide one or more real or virtual datastores 726A-726N (hereinafter referred to collectively and/or generically as “datastores 726”). The datastores 726 are configured to host data used or created by the application servers 708 and/or other data. Although not illustrated in FIG. 7, the datastores 726 also can host or store the operating system 106, the spreadsheet application 108, the visualization component 110, graphics data corresponding to one or more UIs 114, the spreadsheet data 118, the geographic mapping data 124, the map data 126, combinations thereof, or the like.

The computing environment 702 can communicate with, or be accessed by, the network interfaces 712. The network interfaces 712 can include various types of network hardware and software for supporting communications between two or more computing devices including, but not limited to, the clients 706 and the application servers 708. It should be appreciated that the network interfaces 712 also may be utilized to connect to other types of networks and/or computer systems.

It should be understood that the distributed computing environment 700 described herein can provide any aspects of the software elements described herein with any number of virtual computing resources and/or other distributed computing functionality that can be configured to execute any aspects of the software components disclosed herein. According to various implementations of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein, the distributed computing environment 700 provides the software functionality described herein as a service to the clients 706. It should be understood that the clients 706 can include real or virtual machines including, but not limited to, server computers, web servers, personal computers, mobile computing devices, smart phones, and/or other devices. As such, various embodiments of the concepts and technologies disclosed herein enable any device configured to access the distributed computing environment 700 to utilize the functionality described herein for generating queries for data points in a spreadsheet application.

Turning now to FIG. 8, an illustrative computing device architecture 800 for a computing device that is capable of executing various software components described herein for generating queries for data points in a spreadsheet application. The computing device architecture 800 is applicable to computing devices that facilitate mobile computing due, in part, to form factor, wireless connectivity, and/or battery-powered operation. In some embodiments, the computing devices include, but are not limited to, mobile telephones, tablet devices, slate devices, portable video game devices, and the like. Moreover, the computing device architecture 800 is applicable to any of the clients 806 shown in FIG. 7. Furthermore, aspects of the computing device architecture 800 may be applicable to traditional desktop computers, portable computers (e.g., laptops, notebooks, ultra-portables, and netbooks), server computers, and other computer systems, such as described herein with reference to FIG. 6. For example, the single touch and multi-touch aspects disclosed herein below may be applied to desktop computers that utilize a touchscreen or some other touch-enabled device, such as a touch-enabled track pad or touch-enabled mouse.

The computing device architecture 800 illustrated in FIG. 8 includes a processor 802, memory components 804, network connectivity components 806, sensor components 808, input/output components 810, and power components 812. In the illustrated embodiment, the processor 802 is in communication with the memory components 804, the network connectivity components 806, the sensor components 808, the input/output (“I/O”) components 810, and the power components 812. Although no connections are shown between the individuals components illustrated in FIG. 8, the components can interact to carry out device functions. In some embodiments, the components are arranged so as to communicate via one or more busses (not shown).

The processor 802 includes a central processing unit (“CPU”) configured to process data, execute computer-executable instructions of one or more application programs, and communicate with other components of the computing device architecture 800 in order to perform various functionality described herein. The processor 802 may be utilized to execute aspects of the software components presented herein and, particularly, those that utilize, at least in part, a touch-enabled input.

In some embodiments, the processor 802 includes a graphics processing unit (“GPU”) configured to accelerate operations performed by the CPU, including, but not limited to, operations performed by executing general-purpose scientific and engineering computing applications, as well as graphics-intensive computing applications such as high resolution video (e.g., 720p, 1080p, and greater), video games, three-dimensional modeling applications, and the like. In some embodiments, the processor 802 is configured to communicate with a discrete GPU (not shown). In any case, the CPU and GPU may be configured in accordance with a co-processing CPU/GPU computing model, wherein the sequential part of an application executes on the CPU and the computationally-intensive part is accelerated by the GPU.

In some embodiments, the processor 802 is, or is included in, a system-on-chip (“SoC”) along with one or more of the other components described herein below. For example, the SoC may include the processor 802, a GPU, one or more of the network connectivity components 806, and one or more of the sensor components 808. In some embodiments, the processor 802 is fabricated, in part, utilizing a package-on-package (“PoP”) integrated circuit packaging technique. Moreover, the processor 802 may be a single core or multi-core processor.

The processor 802 may be created in accordance with an ARM architecture, available for license from ARM HOLDINGS of Cambridge, United Kingdom. Alternatively, the processor 802 may be created in accordance with an x86 architecture, such as is available from INTEL CORPORATION of Mountain View, Calif. and others. In some embodiments, the processor 802 is a SNAPDRAGON SoC, available from QUALCOMM of San Diego, Calif., a TEGRA SoC, available from NVIDIA of Santa Clara, Calif., a HUMMINGBIRD SoC, available from SAMSUNG of Seoul, South Korea, an Open Multimedia Application Platform (“OMAP”) SoC, available from TEXAS INSTRUMENTS of Dallas, Tex., a customized version of any of the above SoCs, or a proprietary SoC.

The memory components 804 include a random access memory (“RAM”) 814, a read-only memory (“ROM”) 816, an integrated storage memory (“integrated storage”) 818, and a removable storage memory (“removable storage”) 820. In some embodiments, the RAM 814 or a portion thereof, the ROM 816 or a portion thereof, and/or some combination the RAM 814 and the ROM 816 is integrated in the processor 802. In some embodiments, the ROM 816 is configured to store a firmware, an operating system or a portion thereof (e.g., operating system kernel), and/or a bootloader to load an operating system kernel from the integrated storage 818 or the removable storage 820.

The integrated storage 818 can include a solid-state memory, a hard disk, or a combination of solid-state memory and a hard disk. The integrated storage 818 may be soldered or otherwise connected to a logic board upon which the processor 802 and other components described herein also may be connected. As such, the integrated storage 818 is integrated in the computing device. The integrated storage 818 is configured to store an operating system or portions thereof, application programs, data, and other software components described herein.

The removable storage 820 can include a solid-state memory, a hard disk, or a combination of solid-state memory and a hard disk. In some embodiments, the removable storage 820 is provided in lieu of the integrated storage 818. In other embodiments, the removable storage 820 is provided as additional optional storage. In some embodiments, the removable storage 820 is logically combined with the integrated storage 818 such that the total available storage is made available and shown to a user as a total combined capacity of the integrated storage 818 and the removable storage 820.

The removable storage 820 is configured to be inserted into a removable storage memory slot (not shown) or other mechanism by which the removable storage 820 is inserted and secured to facilitate a connection over which the removable storage 820 can communicate with other components of the computing device, such as the processor 802. The removable storage 820 may be embodied in various memory card formats including, but not limited to, PC card, CompactFlash card, memory stick, secure digital (“SD”), miniSD, microSD, universal integrated circuit card (“UICC”) (e.g., a subscriber identity module (“SIM”) or universal SIM (“USIM”)), a proprietary format, or the like.

It can be understood that one or more of the memory components 804 can store an operating system. According to various embodiments, the operating system includes, but is not limited to, SYMBIAN OS from SYMBIAN LIMITED, WINDOWS MOBILE OS from Microsoft Corporation of Redmond, Wash., WINDOWS PHONE OS from Microsoft Corporation, WINDOWS from Microsoft Corporation, PALM WEBOS from Hewlett-Packard Company of Palo Alto, Calif., BLACKBERRY OS from Research In Motion Limited of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, IOS from Apple Inc. of Cupertino, Calif., and ANDROID OS from Google Inc. of Mountain View, Calif. Other operating systems are contemplated.

The network connectivity components 806 include a wireless wide area network component (“WWAN component”) 822, a wireless local area network component (“WLAN component”) 824, and a wireless personal area network component (“WPAN component”) 826. The network connectivity components 806 facilitate communications to and from a network 828, which may be a WWAN, a WLAN, or a WPAN. Although a single network 828 is illustrated, the network connectivity components 806 may facilitate simultaneous communication with multiple networks. For example, the network connectivity components 806 may facilitate simultaneous communications with multiple networks via one or more of a WWAN, a WLAN, or a WPAN.

In some embodiments, the network 828 can correspond to the network 104 and/or the network 704 illustrated and described in FIGS. 1 and 6-7. In some other embodiments, the network 828 can include the network 104 illustrated and described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 6 and/or the network 704 illustrated and described in FIG. 7. In yet other embodiments, the network 828 can provide access to the network 104 illustrated and described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 6 and/or the network 704 illustrated and described in FIG. 7.

The network 828 may be a WWAN, such as a mobile telecommunications network utilizing one or more mobile telecommunications technologies to provide voice and/or data services to a computing device utilizing the computing device architecture 800 via the WWAN component 822. The mobile telecommunications technologies can include, but are not limited to, Global System for Mobile communications (“GSM”), Code Division Multiple Access (“CDMA”) ONE, CDMA2000, Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (“UMTS”), Long Term Evolution (“LTE”), and Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (“WiMAX”). Moreover, the network 828 may utilize various channel access methods (which may or may not be used by the aforementioned standards) including, but not limited to, Time Division Multiple Access (“TDMA”), Frequency Division Multiple Access (“FDMA”), CDMA, wideband CDMA (“W-CDMA”), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (“OFDM”), Space Division Multiple Access (“SDMA”), and the like. Data communications may be provided using General Packet Radio Service (“GPRS”), Enhanced Data rates for Global Evolution (“EDGE”), the High-Speed Packet Access (“HSPA”) protocol family including High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (“HSDPA”), Enhanced Uplink (“EUL”) or otherwise termed High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (“HSUPA”), Evolved HSPA (“HSPA+”), LTE, and various other current and future wireless data access standards. The network 828 may be configured to provide voice and/or data communications with any combination of the above technologies. The network 828 may be configured to or adapted to provide voice and/or data communications in accordance with future generation technologies.

In some embodiments, the WWAN component 822 is configured to provide dual-multi-mode connectivity to the network 828. For example, the WWAN component 822 may be configured to provide connectivity to the network 828, wherein the network 828 provides service via GSM and UMTS technologies, or via some other combination of technologies. Alternatively, multiple WWAN components 822 may be utilized to perform such functionality, and/or provide additional functionality to support other non-compatible technologies (i.e., incapable of being supported by a single WWAN component). The WWAN component 822 may facilitate similar connectivity to multiple networks (e.g., a UMTS network and an LTE network).

The network 828 may be a WLAN operating in accordance with one or more Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (“IEEE”) 802.11 standards, such as IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, and/or future 802.11 standard (referred to herein collectively as WI-FI). Draft 802.11 standards are also contemplated. In some embodiments, the WLAN is implemented utilizing one or more wireless WI-FI access points. In some embodiments, one or more of the wireless WI-FI access points are another computing device with connectivity to a WWAN that are functioning as a WI-FI hotspot. The WLAN component 824 is configured to connect to the network 828 via the WI-FI access points. Such connections may be secured via various encryption technologies including, but not limited, WI-FI Protected Access (“WPA”), WPA2, Wired Equivalent Privacy (“WEP”), and the like.

The network 828 may be a WPAN operating in accordance with Infrared Data Association (“IrDA”), BLUETOOTH, wireless Universal Serial Bus (“USB”), Z-Wave, ZIGBEE, or some other short-range wireless technology. In some embodiments, the WPAN component 826 is configured to facilitate communications with other devices, such as peripherals, computers, or other computing devices via the WPAN.

The sensor components 808 include a magnetometer 830, an ambient light sensor 832, a proximity sensor 834, an accelerometer 836, a gyroscope 838, and a Global Positioning System sensor (“GPS sensor”) 840. It is contemplated that other sensors, such as, but not limited to, temperature sensors or shock detection sensors, also may be incorporated in the computing device architecture 800.

The magnetometer 830 is configured to measure the strength and direction of a magnetic field. In some embodiments the magnetometer 830 provides measurements to a compass application program stored within one of the memory components 804 in order to provide a user with accurate directions in a frame of reference including the cardinal directions, north, south, east, and west. Similar measurements may be provided to a navigation application program that includes a compass component. Other uses of measurements obtained by the magnetometer 830 are contemplated.

The ambient light sensor 832 is configured to measure ambient light. In some embodiments, the ambient light sensor 832 provides measurements to an application program stored within one the memory components 804 in order to automatically adjust the brightness of a display (described below) to compensate for low-light and high-light environments. Other uses of measurements obtained by the ambient light sensor 832 are contemplated.

The proximity sensor 834 is configured to detect the presence of an object or thing in proximity to the computing device without direct contact. In some embodiments, the proximity sensor 834 detects the presence of a user's body (e.g., the user's face) and provides this information to an application program stored within one of the memory components 804 that utilizes the proximity information to enable or disable some functionality of the computing device. For example, a telephone application program may automatically disable a touchscreen (described below) in response to receiving the proximity information so that the user's face does not inadvertently end a call or enable/disable other functionality within the telephone application program during the call. Other uses of proximity as detected by the proximity sensor 834 are contemplated.

The accelerometer 836 is configured to measure proper acceleration. In some embodiments, output from the accelerometer 836 is used by an application program as an input mechanism to control some functionality of the application program. For example, the application program may be a video game in which a character, a portion thereof, or an object is moved or otherwise manipulated in response to input received via the accelerometer 836. In some embodiments, output from the accelerometer 836 is provided to an application program for use in switching between landscape and portrait modes, calculating coordinate acceleration, or detecting a fall. Other uses of the accelerometer 836 are contemplated.

The gyroscope 838 is configured to measure and maintain orientation. In some embodiments, output from the gyroscope 838 is used by an application program as an input mechanism to control some functionality of the application program. For example, the gyroscope 838 can be used for accurate recognition of movement within a three-dimensional environment of a video game application or some other application. In some embodiments, an application program utilizes output from the gyroscope 838 and the accelerometer 836 to enhance control of some functionality of the application program. Other uses of the gyroscope 838 are contemplated.

The GPS sensor 840 is configured to receive signals from GPS satellites for use in calculating a location. The location calculated by the GPS sensor 840 may be used by any application program that requires or benefits from location information. For example, the location calculated by the GPS sensor 840 may be used with a navigation application program to provide directions from the location to a destination or directions from the destination to the location. Moreover, the GPS sensor 840 may be used to provide location information to an external location-based service, such as E911 service. The GPS sensor 840 may obtain location information generated via WI-FI, WIMAX, and/or cellular triangulation techniques utilizing one or more of the network connectivity components 806 to aid the GPS sensor 840 in obtaining a location fix. The GPS sensor 840 may also be used in Assisted GPS (“A-GPS”) systems.

The I/O components 810 include a display 842, a touchscreen 844, a data I/O interface component (“data I/O”) 846, an audio I/O interface component (“audio I/O”) 848, a video I/O interface component (“video I/O”) 850, and a camera 852. In some embodiments, the display 842 and the touchscreen 844 are combined. In some embodiments two or more of the data I/O component 846, the audio I/O component 848, and the video I/O component 850 are combined. The I/O components 810 may include discrete processors configured to support the various interface described below, or may include processing functionality built-in to the processor 802.

The display 842 is an output device configured to present information in a visual form. In particular, the display 842 may present graphical user interface (“GUI”) elements, text, images, video, notifications, virtual buttons, virtual keyboards, messaging data, Internet content, device status, time, date, calendar data, preferences, map information, location information, and any other information that is capable of being presented in a visual form. In some embodiments, the display 842 is a liquid crystal display (“LCD”) utilizing any active or passive matrix technology and any backlighting technology (if used). In some embodiments, the display 842 is an organic light emitting diode (“OLED”) display. Other display types are contemplated.

The touchscreen 844 is an input device configured to detect the presence and location of a touch. The touchscreen 844 may be a resistive touchscreen, a capacitive touchscreen, a surface acoustic wave touchscreen, an infrared touchscreen, an optical imaging touchscreen, a dispersive signal touchscreen, an acoustic pulse recognition touchscreen, or may utilize any other touchscreen technology. In some embodiments, the touchscreen 844 is incorporated on top of the display 842 as a transparent layer to enable a user to use one or more touches to interact with objects or other information presented on the display 842. In other embodiments, the touchscreen 844 is a touch pad incorporated on a surface of the computing device that does not include the display 842. For example, the computing device may have a touchscreen incorporated on top of the display 842 and a touch pad on a surface opposite the display 842.

In some embodiments, the touchscreen 844 is a single-touch touchscreen. In other embodiments, the touchscreen 844 is a multi-touch touchscreen. In some embodiments, the touchscreen 844 is configured to detect discrete touches, single touch gestures, and/or multi-touch gestures. These are collectively referred to herein as gestures for convenience. Several gestures will now be described. It should be understood that these gestures are illustrative and are not intended to limit the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, the described gestures, additional gestures, and/or alternative gestures may be implemented in software for use with the touchscreen 844. As such, a developer may create gestures that are specific to a particular application program.

In some embodiments, the touchscreen 844 supports a tap gesture in which a user taps the touchscreen 844 once on an item presented on the display 842. The tap gesture may be used for various reasons including, but not limited to, opening or launching whatever the user taps. In some embodiments, the touchscreen 844 supports a double tap gesture in which a user taps the touchscreen 844 twice on an item presented on the display 842. The double tap gesture may be used for various reasons including, but not limited to, zooming in or zooming out in stages. In some embodiments, the touchscreen 844 supports a tap and hold gesture in which a user taps the touchscreen 844 and maintains contact for at least a pre-defined time. The tap and hold gesture may be used for various reasons including, but not limited to, opening a context-specific menu.

In some embodiments, the touchscreen 844 supports a pan gesture in which a user places a finger on the touchscreen 844 and maintains contact with the touchscreen 844 while moving the finger on the touchscreen 844. The pan gesture may be used for various reasons including, but not limited to, moving through screens, images, or menus at a controlled rate. Multiple finger pan gestures are also contemplated. In some embodiments, the touchscreen 844 supports a flick gesture in which a user swipes a finger in the direction the user wants the screen to move. The flick gesture may be used for various reasons including, but not limited to, scrolling horizontally or vertically through menus or pages. In some embodiments, the touchscreen 844 supports a pinch and stretch gesture in which a user makes a pinching motion with two fingers (e.g., thumb and forefinger) on the touchscreen 844 or moves the two fingers apart. The pinch and stretch gesture may be used for various reasons including, but not limited to, zooming gradually in or out of a website, map, or picture.

Although the above gestures have been described with reference to the use one or more fingers for performing the gestures, other appendages such as toes or objects such as styluses may be used to interact with the touchscreen 844. As such, the above gestures should be understood as being illustrative and should not be construed as being limiting in any way.

The data I/O interface component 846 is configured to facilitate input of data to the computing device and output of data from the computing device. In some embodiments, the data I/O interface component 846 includes a connector configured to provide wired connectivity between the computing device and a computer system, for example, for synchronization operation purposes. The connector may be a proprietary connector or a standardized connector such as USB, micro-USB, mini-USB, or the like. In some embodiments, the connector is a dock connector for docking the computing device with another device such as a docking station, audio device (e.g., a digital music player), or video device.

The audio I/O interface component 848 is configured to provide audio input and/or output capabilities to the computing device. In some embodiments, the audio I/O interface component 846 includes a microphone configured to collect audio signals. In some embodiments, the audio I/O interface component 846 includes a headphone jack configured to provide connectivity for headphones or other external speakers. In some embodiments, the audio interface component 848 includes a speaker for the output of audio signals. In some embodiments, the audio I/O interface component 846 includes an optical audio cable out.

The video I/O interface component 850 is configured to provide video input and/or output capabilities to the computing device. In some embodiments, the video I/O interface component 850 includes a video connector configured to receive video as input from another device (e.g., a video media player such as a DVD or BLURAY player) or send video as output to another device (e.g., a monitor, a television, or some other external display). In some embodiments, the video I/O interface component 850 includes a High-Definition Multimedia Interface (“HDMI”), mini-HDMI, micro-HDMI, DisplayPort, or proprietary connector to input/output video content. In some embodiments, the video I/O interface component 850 or portions thereof is combined with the audio I/O interface component 848 or portions thereof.

The camera 852 can be configured to capture still images and/or video. The camera 852 may utilize a charge coupled device (“CCD”) or a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (“CMOS”) image sensor to capture images. In some embodiments, the camera 852 includes a flash to aid in taking pictures in low-light environments. Settings for the camera 852 may be implemented as hardware or software buttons.

Although not illustrated, one or more hardware buttons may also be included in the computing device architecture 800. The hardware buttons may be used for controlling some operational aspect of the computing device. The hardware buttons may be dedicated buttons or multi-use buttons. The hardware buttons may be mechanical or sensor-based.

The illustrated power components 812 include one or more batteries 854, which can be connected to a battery gauge 856. The batteries 854 may be rechargeable or disposable. Rechargeable battery types include, but are not limited to, lithium polymer, lithium ion, nickel cadmium, and nickel metal hydride. Each of the batteries 854 may be made of one or more cells.

The battery gauge 856 can be configured to measure battery parameters such as current, voltage, and temperature. In some embodiments, the battery gauge 856 is configured to measure the effect of a battery's discharge rate, temperature, age and other factors to predict remaining life within a certain percentage of error. In some embodiments, the battery gauge 856 provides measurements to an application program that is configured to utilize the measurements to present useful power management data to a user. Power management data may include one or more of a percentage of battery used, a percentage of battery remaining, a battery condition, a remaining time, a remaining capacity (e.g., in watt hours), a current draw, and a voltage.

The power components 812 may also include a power connector, which may be combined with one or more of the aforementioned I/O components 810. The power components 812 may interface with an external power system or charging equipment via a power I/O component 844.

Based on the foregoing, it should be appreciated that technologies for generating queries for data points in a spreadsheet application have been disclosed herein. Although the subject matter presented herein has been described in language specific to computer structural features, methodological and transformative acts, specific computing machinery, and computer readable media, it is to be understood that the invention defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features, acts, or media described herein. Rather, the specific features, acts and mediums are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

The subject matter described above is provided by way of illustration only and should not be construed as limiting. Various modifications and changes may be made to the subject matter described herein without following the example embodiments and applications illustrated and described, and without departing from the true spirit and scope of the present invention, which is set forth in the following claims. 

We claim:
 1. A computer-implemented method for generating a query from data, the computer-implemented method comprising performing computer-implemented operations for: obtaining, at a computer system executing a visualization component, the data, the data including records having data values, temporal information, and location information; detecting, by the computer system, selection of a data point in a visualization of the data, the data point comprising a representation of one of the records included in the data; and generating, by the computer system, the query based upon the data associated with the data point.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the query comprises: extracting temporal information from the data; extracting location information from the data; and generating the query based, at least partially, upon the temporal information and the location information.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the query comprises: extracting temporal information associated with the data point from the data; extracting location information associated with the data point from the data; and generating the query based, at least partially, upon the temporal information and the location information.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the query comprises: extracting temporal information associated with the data point from the data; extracting location information associated with the data point from the data; extracting a data value associated with the data point from the data; and generating the query based, at least partially, upon the temporal information, the location information, and the data value.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: generating instructions for presenting the query; determining if the query has been modified during presentation of the query; in response to a determination that the query has been modified, generating a modified query and submitting the modified query to a search engine; and in response to a determination that the query has not been modified, submitting the query to the search engine.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein generating the instructions comprises generating a user interface for presenting the query, the user interface comprising a field for presenting the query and enabling modification of the query in the field, and a control for submitting the query to the search engine.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: presenting the query in a user interface that presents the query and enables modification of the query during presentation of the query; determining that the query has been modified during the presentation of the query; generating a modified query; and submitting the modified query to a search engine.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein generating the query comprises: extracting temporal information, location information, a data value, and metadata associated with the data point from the data; and generating the query based, at least partially, upon the temporal information, the location information, data value, and the metadata.
 9. The method of claim 1, further comprising: submitting the query to a search engine; receiving results from the search engine; and generating a user interface for presenting the results at a user computing device in communication with the computer system, wherein the data comprises spreadsheet data.
 10. A computer storage medium having computer readable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to: obtain spreadsheet data including records comprising data values, temporal information, and location information; detect selection of a data point in a visualization of the spreadsheet data, the data point comprising a representation of one of the records included in the spreadsheet data; and generate a query based upon the spreadsheet data associated with the data point.
 11. The computer storage medium of claim 10, wherein generating the query comprises: extracting temporal information associated with the data point from the spreadsheet data; extracting location information associated with the data point from the spreadsheet data; and generating the query based, at least partially, upon the temporal information and the location information.
 12. The computer storage medium of claim 11, wherein generating the query further comprises: extracting a data value associated with the data point from the spreadsheet data; and generating the query based, at least partially, upon the data value.
 13. The computer storage medium of claim 10, further comprising computer readable instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to: generate instructions for presenting the query; determine if the query has been modified during presentation of the query; in response to a determination that the query has been modified, generate a modified query, and submit the modified query to a search engine; and in response to a determination that the query has not been modified, submit the query to the search engine.
 14. The computer storage medium of claim 10, further comprising computer readable instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to: generate instructions for presenting the query in a user interface that presents a representation of the query and enables modification of the query; determine that the query has been modified during presentation of the query; generate a modified query; and submit the modified query to a search engine.
 15. The computer storage medium of claim 10, further comprising computer readable instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to: submit the query to a search engine; receive results from the search engine; and generate a user interface for presenting the results.
 16. A computer storage medium having computer readable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to: obtain spreadsheet data including records comprising data values, temporal information, and location information; generate a visualization of the spreadsheet data, the visualization comprising a representation of a record included in the spreadsheet data; detect selection of the representation in the visualization; generate a query based upon the spreadsheet data associated with the representation; submit the query to a search engine; receive results from the search engine; and generate a user interface for presenting the results.
 17. The computer storage medium of claim 16, wherein generating the query comprises: extracting temporal information associated with the record from the spreadsheet data; extracting location information associated with the record from the spreadsheet data; extracting a data value associated with the record from the spreadsheet data; and generating the query based, at least partially, upon the temporal information, the location information, and the data value.
 18. The computer storage medium of claim 16, further comprising computer readable instructions that, when executed by the computer, cause the computer to: generate instructions for presenting the query prior to submitting the query to the search engine; determine if the query has been modified during presentation of the query; and in response to a determination that the query has been modified, submit the query, the query comprising the modified query.
 19. The computer storage medium of claim 16, wherein generating the user interface for presenting the results comprises generating a user interface comprising a representation of the query, a representation of the results, and a control for modifying the query.
 20. The computer storage medium of claim 16, wherein the representation of the record comprises a user interface control that, when selected, causes presentation of a menu having an option for generating the query, and wherein detecting selection of the representation comprises detecting selection of the option. 